Menu burger Close thin Facebook Twitter Google plus Linked in Reddit Email arrow-right-sm arrow-right
Loading
Tap on the profile icon to edit
your financial details.

Top Financial Advisors in Mobile, AL

Your Details Done
by Updated

This review was produced by SmartAsset based on publicly available information. The named firm and its financial professionals have not reviewed, approved, or endorsed this review and are not responsible for its accuracy. Review content is produced by SmartAsset independently of any business relationships that might exist between SmartAsset and the named firm and its financial professionals, and firms and financial professionals having business relationships with SmartAsset receive no special treatment or consideration in SmartAsset’s reviews. This page contains links to SmartAsset’s financial advisor matching tool, which may or may not match you with the firm mentioned in this review or its financial professionals.

Finding a Top Financial Advisor Firm in Mobile, Alabama

Finding the right financial advisor can be a challenge because there are a lot of firms to choose from. SmartAsset has done some of the work for you by researching to find the top financial advisor firms in Mobile. Below we lay out our findings about each of these firms and what differentiates them from one another. If you'd like more guidance in your search, SmartAsset’s free financial advisor matching tool can pair you with vetted advisors who serve your area.

Find a Fiduciary Financial Advisor

We match more than 50,000 people with financial advisors per month. Get connected to an advisor that serves your area today.
Free inital consultations. All advisors are fiduciaries.

Rank Financial Advisor Assets Managed Minimum Assets Financial Services More Information
1 Leavell Investment Management, Inc. Leavell Investment Management, Inc. logo Find an Advisor

Read Review

$2,136,355,120 No set account minimum
  • Financial planning
  • Portfolio management
  • Pension consulting
  • Selection of other advisors (including private fund managers)
  • Education to participants of consulting and advised retirement plans

Minimum Assets

No set account minimum

Financial Services

  • Financial planning
  • Portfolio management
  • Pension consulting
  • Selection of other advisors (including private fund managers)
  • Education to participants of consulting and advised retirement plans
2 Williams Financial Group Williams Financial Group logo Find an Advisor

Read Review

$252,212,040 $250,000
  • Financial planning
  • Portfolio management 
  • Pension consulting
  • Selection of other advisors (including private fund managers)

Minimum Assets

$250,000

Financial Services

  • Financial planning
  • Portfolio management 
  • Pension consulting
  • Selection of other advisors (including private fund managers)
3 Wilkins Miller Wealth Management, LLC Wilkins Miller Wealth Management, LLC logo Find an Advisor

Read Review

$157,046,987 Varies by account type
  • Financial planning
  • Portfolio management
  • Pension consulting services

Minimum Assets

Varies by account type

Financial Services

  • Financial planning
  • Portfolio management
  • Pension consulting services
4 N.D. Pitman & Company, Inc. Find an Advisor

Read Review

$136,532,092 No set account minimum
  • Financial planning
  • Portfolio management
  • Pension consulting
  • Selection of other advisors (including private fund managers)
  • Consulting

Minimum Assets

No set account minimum

Financial Services

  • Financial planning
  • Portfolio management
  • Pension consulting
  • Selection of other advisors (including private fund managers)
  • Consulting
5 Retirement Advisors, Inc. Retirement Advisors, Inc. logo Find an Advisor

Read Review

$131,461,660 $800,000
  • Financial planning
  • Portfolio management
  • Asset allocation services

Minimum Assets

$800,000

Financial Services

  • Financial planning
  • Portfolio management
  • Asset allocation services

What We Use in Our Methodology

To find the top financial advisors in Mobile, we first identified all firms registered with the SEC in the city. Next, we filtered out firms that don't offer financial planning services, those that don't serve primarily individual clients and those that have disclosures on their record. The qualifying firms were then ranked according to the following criteria:

  • AUM
    Firms with more total assets under management are ranked higher.
  • Individual Client Count
    Firms who serve more individual clients (as opposed to institutional clients) are ranked higher.
  • Clients Per Advisor
    Firms with a lower ratio of clients per financial advisor are ranked higher.
  • Age of Firm
    Firms that have been in business longer are ranked higher.
  • Fee Structure
    Firms with a fee-only (as opposed to fee-based) compensation structure are ranked higher.

All information is obtained through public records and is updated annually after the firms’ form ADV filing. This list may include firms that have a business relationship with SmartAsset, in which SmartAsset is compensated for lead referrals. Such relationships have no impact on our rankings, and firms are included and ranked based strictly on the above criteria. SmartAsset is not a client of the aforementioned firms, and did not receive compensation for including any of the firms on the aforementioned list.

Leavell Investment Management

Leavell Investment Management is the top-rated financial advisory firm in Mobile. Leavell Investment Management is the oldest firm on this list, having been founded in 1979, and the only practice that's ranked among the best in the state. Despite the large amount of money that Leavell manages, you don’t need to be a high-net-worth investor to work with the firm.

In fact, the majority of clients are individuals without a high net worth. The firm also serves pension and profit-sharing plans, charities, businesses, consulting groups and investment companies. There is no required minimum to open an account with Leavell Investment Management.

Leavell Investment Management has a large staff that includes chartered financial analysts (CFAs), certified financial planners (CFPs), certified public accountants (CPAs), chartered life underwriters (CLUs) and certified investment management analysts (CIMAs). Leavell is a fee-only firm, which means outside of account management fees, advisors do not make commissions from the sale of securities or insurance products.

Leavell Investment Management Background

Thomas W. Leavell founded Leavell Investment Management (formerly T. Leavell & Associates, Inc.) in 1979. He was the principal owner of the firm until 2014. Now, the firm is owned by its employees. Most employees own up to a 25% share of the firm. Andrew Grinstead serves as the company’s CEO and president.

Leavell Investment Management’s primary service is the management of a client’s investment portfolio. The firm will also occasionally provide financial planning services to clients. That may include services such as cash-flow planning, net worth calculations, tax planning or education planning.

Leavell Investment Management Investment Strategy

When building a portfolio for a client, Leavell advisors seek appropriate levels of diversification. That may include investing in individual securities, mutual funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs), as well as seeking both domestic and foreign exposure. Fixed-income securities are a vital part of the firm’s portfolios because they can help minimize a portfolio’s overall risk. The firm primarily uses fundamental analysis to evaluate securities.

Leavell Investment Management prefers to take a long-term approach to investing and avoids short-term trading. The firm also avoids portfolio turnover in order to keep trading expenses to a minimum.

Williams Financial Group

Williams Financial Group, a fee-based firm, is the No. 2 financial advisory practice in Mobile. The firm's relatively small staff holds professional certifications such as certified financial planner (CFP), chartered financial consultant (ChFC) and chartered life underwriter (CLU).

The minimum portfolio size at the firm is $250,000 but the firm has the right to negotiate the minimum at its discretion. It offers services to individuals, businesses, trusts and estates.

As a fee-based firm, Williams Financial Group employs certain advisors that can receive commissions for insurance or security sales. Regardless, the firm abides by fiduciary duty, which legally binds it to act in your best interest.

Williams Financial Group Background

Williams Financial Group is a DBA (doing business as) name for WFG Capital Advisors, LLC, which was founded in 2020. Matt Williams and Billy Williams are each 50% owners. 

The firm provides investment management services that include customized investment portfolio management, sub-advisory services, financial planning and financial consulting.

Williams Financial Group Investment Strategy

The firm mostly uses equities and ETFs to implement its strategies. It also uses bonds, options and mutual funds. When selecting securities, the firm uses technical and fundamental analysis, as well as other factors that include but are not limited to financial strength factors, price-to-earnings ratios and broad market valuations. Furthermore, the firm uses both long-term and short-term purchases in its investment approach. 

Wilkins Miller Wealth Management

Wilkins Miller Wealth Management is a fee-based firm that has a client base that consists of individuals, high-net-worth individuals and those with pension and profit-sharing plans. The firm's minimum account can range anywhere from $0 to over $5 million.

However, each account size range comes with an annual fee, which starts at 1.50% for account sizes between $0 and $1 million. Those between $1 million and $2.5 million will receive a 1.25% annual fee. And those above $2.5 million to $5 million will see a $1.00% annual fee. But if your account size is over $5 million, you will receive a 0.75% annual fee.

Wilkins Miller Wealth Management Background

Wilkins Miller Wealth Management was established in 2008 and it received in 2012, it became a registered investment advisor. The firm is owned by nine individuals, with the largest ownership not being higher than 25%. The firm has a team that consists of certified financial planners (CFPs), certified chartered financial analysts (CFAs) and certified public accountants (CPAs).

Wilkins Miller Wealth Management Investment Strategy

Wilkins Miller Wealth Management's investment strategy follows the Modern Portfolio Theory, which according to the firm, is attempting to, "Maximize portfolio expected return for a given amount of portfolio risk or equivalently minimize risk for a given level of expected return, by carefully choosing the proportions of various assets." The firm also looks to use exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and open-ended mutual funds, which is dependent on the client's strategy.

N.D. Pitman & Company

N.D. Pitman & Company is a fee-only financial advisor that primarily works with high-net-worth individuals and non-high-net-worth individuals. N.D. Pitman & Company also serves pension and profit-sharing plans, charitable organizations, corporations and businesses. There is no account minimum for new clients.

N.D. Pitman & Company Background

Norman D. Pitman III founded N.D. Pitman & Company in 2005 and is the sole owner of the business. He also serves as president and chief compliance officer (CCO). In addition to being a certified financial planner (CFP), Pitman is also a licensed attorney in the state of Mississippi, though he is not actively practicing and does not offer legal services to clients.

The two main services offered by N.D. Pitman & Company are financial planning and portfolio management. Financial planning covers a comprehensive analysis of the client’s finances and generally includes considering the client’s cash flow, tax situation, investments, insurance policies, retirement goals and estate planning. Portfolio management entails managing investments for a client.

The firm may also provide monitoring services, as well as consultation services for both investment-related and non-investment-related financial questions.

N.D. Pitman & Company Investment Strategy

When selecting which securities to invest in, N.D. Pitman & Company uses the common strategy of fundamental analysis. This technique attempts to measure the intrinsic value of a security by analyzing its finances and how it fits into the overall economy.

Unlike some other advisory firms, N.D. Pitman & Company does not show a particular preference between long-term and short-term investing strategies. According to the firm, it will make long-term purchases when it feels that a security is currently undervalued or if the firm feels the client would benefit from the asset class exposure that a security provides. A short-term purchase may be used to take advantage of a specific market condition.

Retirement Advisors

Retirement Advisors is a fee-only financial advisor with a client base made up exclusively of high-net-worth and non-high-net-worth individuals. The firm also serves trusts, estates and charitable organizations.

The firm has a minimum account size of $800,000 and may accept smaller amounts in certain cases. As a fee-only firm, Retirement Advisors does not sell securities or insurance for third-party firms. Instead, its revenue comes solely from client-paid fees, which are based on a percentage of assets under management.

Retirement Advisors Background

Retirement Advisors was founded in 1996 by Stephen M. Haidt. Haidt serves as the sole owner of the firm. It offers financial planning and investment advisory services to its clients. 

Retirement Advisors Investment Strategy

The firm's investment philosophy involves tilting client portfolios toward small-cap and value stocks, using broad diversification for a conservative investment approach. It takes a tailored, personalized approach to designing investment strategies for clients. Investment advice is based on extensive research and long-term strategies that incorporate Modern Portfolio Theory.

How Long $1mm Lasts in Retirement

SmartAsset's interactive map highlights places where $1 million will last the longest in retirement. Zoom between states and the national map to see the top spots in each region. Also, scroll over any city to learn about the cost of living in retirement for that location.

Least
Most
Rank City Housing Expenses Food Expenses Healthcare Expenses Utilities Expenses Transportation Expenses

Methodology We analyzed data on average expenditures for seniors, cost of living and investment returns to determine how many years of retirement a $1 million nest egg would cover in cities across America.

First, we looked at data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) on the average annual expenditures of seniors. We then applied cost of living data from the Council for Community and Economic Research to adjust those national average spending levels based on the costs of each expense category (housing, food, healthcare, utilities, transportation and other) in each city. Using this data, SmartAsset calculated the average cost of living for retirees in the largest U.S. cities.

We assumed the $1 million would grow at a real return (interest minus inflation) of 2%. Then, we divided $1 million by the sum of each of those annual numbers to determine how long $1 million would cover retirement expenses in each of the cities in our study. Cities where $1 million lasted the longest ranked the highest in the study.

Sources: Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), Council for Community and Economic Research